| Milton: Paradise Lost: Epic Conventions |
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| Milton is patterning this epic
poem after the classical epics of Homer and Virgil. He was quite
aware of the epic conventions (the elements expected as part of an
epic). He also knows that his audience will know what those epic
conventions will be. Here is a list of major epic conventions:
1. The work begins in medias res (in the middle of things) -- PL begins after the War in Heaven, which will be described in later books. 2. The poem will open with an invocation of the muse. Generally, this would be the muse of epic poetry (Calliope); here, there's a different sort of "muse" that is invoked. 3. The work will include long "epic similes"--long, involved, complex comparisons (see the comparison of Satan to large legendary creatures such as Leviathan, Bk. I, lines 197-209) 4. You should expect frequent long monologues (I hardly need to point out examples of this). Indeed, the language in general will be elevated in tone. 5. At some point in an epic there will be a journey to the underworld (which is where PL begins) 6. The gods will intervene in human affairs (plenty of examples of supernatural intervention in PL). 7. There will be a catalog (in this case, the catalog of fallen angels in Bk I) 8. There should be a scene describing the arming of the hero. 9. Indeed, there should be a clear hero, and the theme of the epic is generally focused on the hero's adventures. This hero is normally a national hero (as were the heroes of the great classical epics) The last epic convention is the one that causes the most trouble for readers of Paradise Lost. The poem quite clearly adopts the other conventions, but it has been argued that there's a real problem when it comes to identifying the "epic hero" in this poem. The character who appears to be the focus of the theme of the story in the first two books, for example, is Satan. Could Satan be the epic hero? Can it be God, even though God isn't the one undergoing the "adventures" we would expect? Can it be Adam and/or Eve, even though they don't appear until Book 4? Think about the implications of the problem. |
Other
Study Pages:
PL Book III PL Book IV PL Book IX
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